


I'd like to thank the Academia

by galaxyeyedrops



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Arc V Secret Santa, Gen, shipping is super light and barely noticable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2015-12-29
Packaged: 2018-05-10 03:26:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5569108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxyeyedrops/pseuds/galaxyeyedrops
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>aka the many mistakes of Yuzu Hiiragi, age 14, kidnapee</p>
<p>(secret santa present for serpentatsunset)</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'd like to thank the Academia

While Yuzu didn't exactly grow up in the lap of luxury, she's used to some creature comforts.

(Proper plumbing, decent heating, _actual trust_ in the authorities, etc.)

This world, the last few months, stripped that all away from her and left her humbled and fully aware of how kind (and how cruel) people can be towards each other.

But most of all she's thankful, thankful for Yuugo and those kids for sheltering her, sharing with her (a virtual stranger,  her only connection a resemblance to someone else) with what little they have.

And Yuzu’s a lot of things, a strong duelist, an okay student, a mean twister player, but more than that, she believes in paying off her debts, or at least doing what she can.

And that's why, the moment she can move without pain shooting up her legs, she goes out, looking for something (anything she can do) to help out.

 

It's much harder than it sounds, jobs in the commons are few and far between and sneaking up into the tops only gets people to look at her like dirt beneath their shoes.

And naturally, none of her hastily made posters or pleas to listen, to just be aware, to just _stay safe_ , aren't successful either.

Dejected, she walks back to the kids’ home (despite how welcoming they are, she can't afford to think of it as her own).

That is until she recognizes a familiar face across the street.

(After growing up next to it for the past, well, entirety of her life, it'd be hard not to.)

While Yuuya and Yuugo were both in this dimension, Yuugo knew the city far better, could sneak out far better and so its his name she calls when she waves to him across the street.

He turns towards her, giving Yuzu a good look at his distinctive clothes and eyebrows, and Yuzu feels her heart thud to a stop in her chest.

 

It's _him_.

Breathing is a struggle, moving even more so, far harder than a week ago when her injuries were fresh.

She bites her tongue, hard enough to draw blood, uses the pain to snap out of the _whatever_ she's in, and runs.  
  


She doesn't get far.

No matter how fast she runs, he isn't far behind. No matter which hiding spot she finds, which alley she ducks into, he always finds them.

Well, enough is enough.

Yuzu is a fighter, a duelist, if she doesn't believe she can win, nobody will.

She grits her teeth and turns around to face her pursuer.

His teeth chatter, her body shakes, but she turns her duel disk on.

 

Yuzu is doing well, far better than last time at least.

She has Aria and Elegy both on the field, both special summoned. Both in defense mode, so she block all further battle damage to utilize their own effects preventing destruction to the fullest.

It's not a winning strategy but it'll give her time until she can pull something to deal with that dragon of his.

She closes her eyes and draws.

Sonata, the Melodius Diva.

While her 500 attack boost is useful, it isn't enough to match his monsters. She decides to leave it in her hand, waiting for another to chance her on the field.

But before she can end her turn, a voice, similar to Yuuri’s but far more familiar calls out her name.

 

And the moment he shows up, out of breath, Yuzu knows that this is her childhood friend, her _best friend_.

Who, considering what happened to Halil and Olga, is in far more danger than she ever was.

Yuuri, closes their own distance while she's distracted, twists her arm behind her back painfully, and grins at his doppelganger.

Yuuya’s only met Yuuto and Yuugo so far, who overall, were good people. He doesn't know who Yuuri is and how dangerous he can be.

And if Yuzu has her way, he doesn't have to.

 

“Stay back, Yuuya!” She shouts, throwing her other hand up, palm facing her best friend. “He's after me!“

Naturally, despite being confused beyond reasonable doubt, Yuuya straight up ignores her.

Which she kinda, y’know, should have expected.

He charges towards her with all the drive of a middle-aged debt collector and lunges. And misses.

He disappears right in front of Yuzu’s eyes, or rather Yuzu disappears from his sight, which they both _really_ should have expected.  
  


Yuuri feels around the shattered display of his duel disk. A piece of glass nicks his finger, drawing blood, but nothing else. 

Main dueling functions down, dimensional travel down, communications also down. 

It's strange, Yuuri thinks, how a duel disk model designed specifically for battle is rendered useless by an skinny fourteen year old girl fainting on it.   
   
Strange and interesting.

 

The moment Yuzu opens her eyes, she's convinced that the past week or so was a dream and she's still a competitor in the Friendship Cup.

How can she not? The room she wakes up in is identical, down to the furnishings, and it's only when she reaches for her deck on the nightstand, when her arm stops instead of feeling the laminated backs of her cards, she realizes there's something wrong.

She looks down at her wrist, chained to the bed by a pair of handcuffs, tries to rationalize this with her Friendship Cup timeline, before Yuuri walks in, shattering her illusion to a thousand tiny pieces.

She looks at him, defiant (she already made her decision to fight to the end and she's sticking to it.)

“I want an explanation.”

Yuuri raises an eyebrow, amused.

“After lunch,” he says, lifting his hand to show a bag filled with takeout boxes.

Yuzu, not actually expecting him to agree, nods dumbly.

 

Lunch is a quiet affair, the food is far from being called “delicious” but it's something and that's more than Yuzu can ask for. She leaves her cup of lemonade untouched, opting for some water from the tap instead.

She knows that he won't gain anything from tampering with her drinks, but she can't bring herself to take as much as one sip.

“Well,” Yuuri starts, “the basics are that the Professor, our leader, is trying to unite all of the worlds.”  
  


Yuzu nods in acceptance, Serena had confirmed as much.

“And for that goal, he needs certain _things_.”

His eyes gaze into hers, piercing, and Yuzu has no doubt what these things are.

“It's pretty simple, really.”

“And by uniting the worlds?“

“Breaking barriers between the dimensions,” he replies. “Making sure that everything from the old worlds are gone so he can kickstart a newer and better one.”

“But doesn't that mean-”

“The complete and utter destruction of everything? The Professor says it's necessary.”

“And you're okay with this?“ She cries out, aghast. “You're… ”

“More or less,” he says, picking up where she trailed off. “It's sounds interesting.”

 

The conversation devolves back into silence after that.

Simply put, Yuzu can't understand why someone would want do such a thing, and how they can convince thousands of people, an army, to follow their mad ideas.

(Or rather, she doesn't want to.)

Instead, she tries to figure more about her captor, who at his core is a boy around her age.

And Yuzu thinks, tries to find the things in this worlds that'd appeal to a fourteen year old boy the most. That'd convince him that the world should keep on turning.

Junk food?

Yuzu shakes her head at that. Far too prissy.

Rare cards?

Academia probably gave him every card he ever laid eyes on.

If there was something else, anything else…

“ _Boobs_ ,” she says after a minute, realization dawning on her. Her eyes sharpen and she clears her throat, addressing Yuuri once more.

“If the Professor succeeds, if you let him destroy the worlds, you'll never get the chance to look at one again.”

She pauses, lowers her voice for dramatic effect. “Never get to touch one. _Ever_.”

His gaze drops for a minute, two, unashamedly staring at her breasts like they contain the mysteries of the universe, but it's not long before it's back on her face.

“No big deal,” he shrugs, unlocking her cuffs and motioning for her to get off the bed. He makes himself comfortable the moment she’s off, huddling up underneath the covers, only tossing her a pillow and blanket as an afterthought.

“See you in the morning, Yuzu.” He says, turning off the light.

Yuzu screams into her pillow.

 

Thankfully, while Yuuri is kind of a _total asshole_ , he isn't completely inhuman and gives her time to freshen up and shower.

It just so happens that what he and Yuzu consider to be a decent amount of time are wildly different.

And so here he is, outside the bathroom door, acting frustratingly his age with repeated “Are you done?”s and “How about now?”s.

“No,” Yuzu grits out. “I'm on my period.” She adds in an effort to finally get him to shut up.

(A total lie, it was last week, but given the fact that he kidnapped her, Yuzu’s willing to let it run its course.)

There's a pause, a moment of blessed blessed silence, and then

“I see.”

It's not a stutter, but the voice _wavers_ , bereft of it's confident (and obnoxious) tone.

Yuzu’s face widens into a smirk.

 

“Yes,” she says, “there's blood everywhere.”

“Everywhere.” She repeats for good measure.

Yuzu also waves her arms frantically, somewhere between miming a really erratic waterfall or incredibly vigorous swimmer, before realizing that despite the fact that Yuuri’s a total creep, he probably can’t see her.

(Probably.)

Either way, Yuuri seems to be buying it which spurs Yuzu on even further, expanding even more by adding whooshing sounds and turning the shower on full blast.

She puts her ear on the door and waits until his footsteps have faded away.

 

Yuzu makes it to the lobby without too much trouble, taking her time and making sure to stay out of sight of any and all guests.

You never knew who was working with Academia.

(Yuzu giggles at the thought. It sounds like something Yuuto would say in that faked overly gruff tone of his.)

However, the lobby itself is fairly packed, filled with Friendship Cup spectators, a few businessmen, and the usual family on vacation.

Yuuri's there as well, a pack of pads in one hand and a bottle of painkillers in the other.

It'd be a surprisingly kind gesture if Yuzu wasn't sure that this was some way of dealing with biological issues Academia never bothered to explain properly or plan to make sure she's gets Stockholm Syndrome.

Either way, she's got Yuuri in her sights and this time, she's gonna be the one to catch him unaware.

Yuuri might be physically stronger than her and far more experienced but Yuzu is far from defenseless.

Yuuri was clearly smart and exceedingly careful. This whole kidnapping thing, despite hitting more than a few snags, was obviously planned out meticulously, with little to no observers at all times.

Yuzu knows that he has the skill to subdue a crowd, has the rank to command the Academia Soldiers, and so his unwillingness to cause a scene is incredibly telling.

Academia wants her kidnapping to be discreet. Wants something from her and the other girls who look like her, which explains the fact she hasn't been carded yet.

What they need from her exactly, she doesn't know, but it's a guarantee that Ruri and Rin are most likely alive.

That even if the plan falls through, so will she.

 

Yuzu breathes.

Slow inhale.

Slow exhale.

 

And jumps into action.

 

She grabs a purse, fairly heavy, and flings it at Yuuri's head (mentally apologizing to it's owner as she does so).

He dodges (as expected) only to bump into the family behind him (also as expected).

There's a moment where Yuuri pauses, annoyed by his rebellious hostage and all the other people standing there, in his way, and Yuzu takes full advantage.

The cup of lemonade, the same one Yuzu refused to drink before, nails Yuuri right in the face and while the cup falls straight to the floor, it deposits enough liquid in his eyes to leave anyone else screaming.

Yuzu ignores the ridiculous amount of people calling the police and runs towards Yuuri.

She kicks him in the crotch, watches satisfied as he goes down, pulls out his wallet and pockets it, taking comfort at the sheer indignation in his eyes.

She blows him a kiss for good measure.  
  


Three hours and five bad dye jobs later, Yuzu sits at a local café, her hair now a mousy brown, sipping a cup of Blue Eyes Mountain Coffee.

(It's okay, Yuzu thinks, but the true appeal, naturally, was the fact that each cup was an additional three thousand yen out of Yuuri's wallet.)

She stacks it on top of the five others, and signals the waitress, a girl a few years older than her named Stephanie, to get her another.

This was heaven. On the run, with a fake name and fake backstory, drinking all of the coffee her father never let her.

Yuzu stops to take a bite of the cheesecake in front of her, relishing the creamy texture.

Truly exquisite.

But alas, all good things have to come to an end, and Yuzu’s overpriced cheesecake was no different.

For the next sip of coffee she took tasted a little bit different, a little bit off.

Without thinking, she took another sip, just to make sure it was bad before complaining, an act of basic human decency, which in hindsight, was possibly the stupidest thing she could have done.

 

When she lifts a hand to signal Stephanie, Yuzu realizes this as well, judging by the absolute horror on her face when she notices exactly how sluggishly her limbs are moving.

Quickly (or as quickly as she can, rather), she drops the credit card on the table and runs (or stumbles, rather) to the door.

Right into Yuuri's waiting arms.

Well, _fuck_.

 

When Yuzu was little, she had nightmares. Distorted sequences featuring her elementary school principal and every zombie type monster ever made.

To her at the time, there was nothing more terrifying, and no amount of seven year old pride could stop her from snuggling close to her father in hopes that he would chase them away.

And maybe that's why she thinks of him first when she wakes up to the sight of a boy that frightens her more than all of her nightmare figures combined.

He smirks at her just like before, but this time she smirks back. They've got at least a week together until reinforcement arrives and if she escaped before, she can do it again.

  
Without any stupid mistakes this time.


End file.
